There's No Such Thing As Ghosts, Right?
by ColorLikeWhoa
Summary: When Danny's parents force him to go on vacation to California, the last thing he expects is to witness a murder. And the murderer: A ghost. Chapter 5 UP.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yes, it is a Danny Phantom and Psych Crossover. **

**Warning: Might take years before I update again, just letting you know :P**

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><p>Danny'd learned his lesson.<p>

If a masked ghost ever shows up randomly and tries to kill someone, find out who they are and _then_ battle them.

He couldn't believe how dumb he was. Granted, it was Friday night, and he was on vacation- but he should've acted quicker.

He might've been able to save her…

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><p><strong>1986 (or whatever)<strong>

Shawn had seen one. A _real_ one!

"DAD!" he hollered.

Officer Henry Spencer ran out of the door to where Shawn stood, his eyes fixated on one spot in their front yard.

"Shawn, what're you doing here? Gus is waiting for you!"

"I saw one! I saw- saw-" he blubbered. "I saw a GHOST!"

Henry rubbed his forehead in annoyance. "Ghosts don't exist, Shawn. Besides, it's _Halloween_. You probably saw some hooligan in a bed sheet. Now get your costume and go before Gus starts without you!"

"But-"

"Hang on. Have your been watching Ghostbusters again?"

"Maybe... But that's beside the point!"

Henry shook his head in disappointment and walked back inside.

Shawn pouted. "I did too see one. It had a mask…"

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><p><strong>Dun Dun DUN! Read and review, yeah?<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Oh my god, TWO updates in one day, that's so totally MENTAL.**

**AHEM: I edited this.**

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><p>Shawn had a dilemma. It was nothing liked he'd ever faced before- he had to make the impossible choice.<p>

Gus's voice, laced with annoyance, broke through his inner turmoil. "Hurry up, Shawn! My hands are cramping up."

Shawn glanced at his buddy, who was currently holding three baskets crammed with about 20 pounds of candy.

"Man, don't rush me! I need to pick- Original Skittles or Tropical Skittles?"

"Does it matter? Why do you need all this candy anyway?"

Shawn gasped, offended. "Halloween's this Friday, dude! Have you forgotten? Plus, you can never have too much candy."

"You know that's right." Gus set the baskets down to fist bump Shawn. "Get tropical. It has blue Skittles."

Shawn obliged and they rushed to the self-checkout.

"I've got this sweet plan," Shawn explained as they started piling bags onto the counter. "Instead of going trick-or-treating and enduring countless people who'll question my age and intention, I'll get all this candy and mix it all up, so it _seems_ like I just went trick-or-treating."

Shawn pressed a few buttons on the screen, and turned to Gus when it asked for a credit card.

Gus rolled his eyes, but brought out his wallet. "Since when do you care what others think of you?"

"Well... What if Jules finds out? Plus, its just less effort this way."

Gus couldn't argue with that knowledge. "Know what you're dressing up as on Monday?"

"I was thinking of going as Lassie. You?"

Gus shrugged. "Doctor."

"Man, you do that every year!" Shawn shook his head. "Anyway, I hope Halloween's scary this year."

"Be careful what you wish for," Gus warned.

"Man, don't get all karma-freaky on me now."

They walked out of the store, weighed down by numerous bags.

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><p>Danny had a serious problem.<p>

He was strapped down in a seat, sitting next to a screaming Jazz. Clutching the edges of his seat, he gritted his teeth, and didn't dare look out the window.

His dad had to stop driving the GAV, especially on road trips.

Which brought Danny straight back to his problem.

School was still going on, but his parents had suddenly announced that the Fenton family was travelling to California. And not even San Diego, California or Los Angeles, California.

Santa Barbara, California.

Danny wished that he didn't have to leave. What if Amity Park couldn't take care of itself without him? What if Sam or Tucker got hurt? ("Don't worry, Danny!" they'd assured him numerous times.) But still!

And the worst question in the back of his mind: What if he meets another ghost?

_This isn't going to be fun_, he thought darkly.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Wow, I actually updated this thing. Pretty long chapters coming up, if anyone still reads this.**

**Some notes:**

**-'mad wicked' is slang that kids when I was in middle school used to use about 2 years ago. Yeah, Tucker used old slang, get used to it.**

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><p>Danny slowly realized that, despite all of the hype associated with California, if you've seen a palm tree once, you've seen it a thousand times.<p>

After settling into their hotel rooms (Jazz refused to sleep another night in the RV), Danny's parents, weary after taking turns in driving for 24 hours straight, had fallen asleep on their plush hotel bed. Jazz had settled into the other bed and immediately brought out a giant Psychology textbook, claiming that she wasn't going to fall behind on her homework.

This left Danny on his own, which he really didn't mind. He decided to go explore the town, taking some money in case he got hungry. If he got lost, he figured he'd find an alley to go ghost and invisibly fly back.

He had been walking around for about an hour now, trying to find a nice place where he could potentially spend the rest of his vacation without his parents. He finally settled on a secluded bench near the boardwalk he'd spotted a while back. It was perfect; around five minutes from their hotel, and it had a nice view of the ocean.

It was Halloween. Danny hadn't realized at first, but California had plastered ads about their "ScareFest" and other spooky traditions all over town. Danny supposed he should be a little more careful, walking around town alone on such a creepy night, but he was a ghost. He figured he could handle a little paranormal activity.

The sun was slowly fading down, and Danny started to head back in the general direction of the hotel. Pulling out his phone, he decided to finally call his friends. (And not because he wanted an update on the ghost situation, he told himself. He just wanted to talk to his friends, that's all.)

Sam picked up almost immediately. "Hey, Danny!" Faint suspense music was playing in the background. "Are you sick of all the sunshine yet?"

Danny couldn't help but smile at her voice. "Not yet. I wish I were back home with you guys though. Halloween's not that fun in seventy degree weather."

Tucker yelled from the background before Sam could answer. "You're missing all the action, Danny! And Sam got her theater _renovated_. It looks mad wicked!"

Danny could just imagine Sam rolling her eyes. "We're watching the annual horror movie marathon at my place. Wish you were here!"

"Me too." Danny turned left, not realizing that the number of surrounding pedestrians and tourists around him was slowly dwindling. "Hey... So how's the portal doing?" He tried to sound nonchalant.

"Stop worrying and enjoy your vacation, Danny! We've got it under control."

" But what if a ghost attacks?"

" We've handled them before," Tucker called from the background.

"I know, I know, it's just-" Danny gasped, his ghost sense going off and sending a wisp of blue out of his mouth. An earsplitting scream erupted from behind Danny at the same time, almost causing him to drop the cell phone in panic.

"What was that?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. Listen, I'll call you back, okay?" Without waiting for her answer, he hung up.

Danny scanned his surroundings, eyes and ears on alert. He must've walked further than he thought, because he was in an unfamiliar deserted alley. Seeing as there was no one around, Danny allowed the two white rings to surround him and transform him into Phantom.

Danny could understand a regular ghost attack in Amity Park, but ghosts in Santa Barbara? And on Halloween, too.

He heard the scream again- it was a lady, definitely human. Danny rushed towards the sound, hoping that it wasn't anything too dangerous.

How wrong he was.

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><p><strong>(Did no one notice that in the earlier chapter, I wrote that Danny was on vacation because it was Spring break?)<strong>

**(I mean, it's a Halloween story..)**

**(Not an Easter story.)**

**(Basically, I'm dumb and have no knowledge of time.)**

**(But I changed it!)**

**(So you're welcome.)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry, but you have to admit that this is a way smaller gap than before. I'll try harder next time!**

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><p>Santa Barbara experiencing what seems like the first legit ghost attack the moment Danny arrived couldn't have been a coincidence.<p>

He heard the scream again and this time, sped off into its general direction. He halted when he was deep in another alley. There, he spotted a woman- young, maybe in her 20s. She looked scared out of her mind and had burns all over her consistent with an ectoblast. Her eyes widened as she spotted him hovering in front of her.

"Hey, are you okay? Is there a ghost-"

She hollered and pointed behind him. Danny turned too late and caught a face full of ectoplasmic energy. He went flying back, but before he could hit a brick wall, gained control. Kicking off the wall, he propelled himself back to the ghost who had punched him.

The ghost wore a mask, and was dressed in all black, like a robber or a ninja, but had a pair of glowing red eyes. He dodged Danny easily, who had to admit that he was really good at fighting.

"Why are you here?" Danny shot another blast at him before turning intangible as the ghost punched him again.

However, he didn't anticipate the kick that came out of nowhere and slammed into a wall. Through weary eyes, Danny saw the ghost lunge for the lady again. Letting out an incomprehensible yell, he aimed at the ghost and (finally) hit him in the back.

The ghost fell a few feet next to her. He got up, his eyes glaring at Danny, before he whipped out a large steak knife.

With one swift arc of his hand, the ghost plunged the knife right into the woman's chest. She didn't even scream this time.

"NO!" Danny blasted the ghost with all of his power, but when the green blinding light faded, the ghost was long gone.

There was blood _everywhere_. Danny changed back and hastily ran to her side, squelching the nausea and dread in his stomach. He put his hands on the wound, doing absolutely nothing to stop the blood flow. "Stay- stay with me, okay? I'm going to call the police, you'll be fine!"

She gasped, her fingers raking the ground. "Please," she breathed. "My son… Tell my son. Jack…"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," he muttered. "Don't die; please don't die, please-"

Her eyelids fluttered, and then stayed open, staring at nothing.

The damage was done.

Danny stumbled to his feet, barely able to process what just happened. He fumbled with his phone, getting blood all over it, and called 911 frantically. The operator calmly asked him what was wrong, and he relayed the story about the murdered woman and urged to send help immediately. The operator said that it would take about 10 minutes for the police to arrive, and told him to stay with the woman. Danny sunk to the ground after the phone call, unwilling to move.

However, he couldn't ignore the facts. The scene, even to a regular person, looked like there was too much carnage to have been a mugging, like he'd told the operator. It looked like a battlefield, with scorch marks and a bunch of fallen bricks from one wall.

Danny couldn't look at the body. He blinked, not noticing the tears forming in his eyes. Transforming into his other half, he flew off into the night, unable to ignore the pure guilt in his stomach.

He should've stopped the ghost.

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><p><strong>Next time there will be Shawn and Gus, I promise. Shawn, Gus, and a certain song on the radio which none of you will even think of guessing in your wildest dreams, MWAHAHAHA- Sorry. Got carried away there.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm going to try my hardest to update at least every other day, to make up for the impossibly long gap between chapter 2 and 3. So, read and review?**

**Notes:**

**- I don't own Stacy's Mom. Or Teen Wolf. Or Twilight. Or CSI. **

**- Sorry, but Jazz isn't really going to be that important in this story, which is why Danny won't exactly be dumping all his secrets on her.**

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><p>"<em>Stacy's mom has got it going on<em>!" Shawn half-sang, half-wailed.

"Can you turn it down? You know I hate that song." Gus adjusted his seatbelt, frowning at the radio as if it had just insulted him. "And where are we going? With _my_ Echo, too?"

"All in good time, buddy! Anyways, you love this song! You sing it in the shower!"

Gus glared at Shawn until the last sentence clicked in his head. "_What_? That was one time- wait. You were in my house? When I was taking a shower? _Again_?"

"But Teen Wolf was on and the TV in the office wasn't turning on-"

"So you watched Teen Wolf at _my_ house?"

Shawn turned up the volume, effectively drowning out Gus's voice. "_STACY'S MOM HAS GOT IT GOING ON!_"

Gus jammed his finger on the off button, now fully annoyed.

Shawn smirked, but made no move to turn it back on. "Whatever, dude. If you ask me, the song doesn't really make sense anyway. I mean, what does Stacy's mom have that Stacy doesn't? Besides wrinkles and gray hair, of course."

Gus decided to drop the argument, since Shawn obviously wasn't going to answer him. "You're right. What kid falls in love with an older lady?"

Shawn deepened his voice. "And so the lion fell in love with the lamb."

"…Did you just quote Twilight?"

"What? Pssh.. No." Shawn shook his head guiltily.

"Yes, you did, word for-"

"Are we just going to bicker like two old crones or can I tell you why we're here?"

Gus looked out the window. He hadn't recognized any of the streets Shawn had crossed to reach the alley that was their destination. It was a generic alley, like any one could find in Santa Barbara, filled with trash, a few dumpsters, and what seemed like a dead body surrounded by crime scene tape. Police cars lined the block and Gus could see a few reporters trying to get close to the body.

"We have a case." Gus deadpanned.

Shawn nodded excitedly. "And for the day after Halloween, this one's fitting. A ghost _murdered_ someone."

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><p>On CSI shows, the criminals always burned all the evidence. And although Danny didn't like referring to himself as a criminal (even in his head), he had to follow their example for once. He had gotten blood on his jeans, which he had stashed under a pile of dirty laundry on a maid's cart promptly after returning to the hotel. He needed to clean any trace of what had happened last night.<p>

Last night was surreal. It was like pages of a horror story ripped out and pasted into his own life, and he didn't know why. Why were there ghosts in such a paradise-like town? Even in Amity Park, ghosts didn't have a thirst for murder.

Now, he was in the bathroom, frantically scrubbing his phone with a wet towel, trying to get the blood off. Normally, that shouldn't be such a hard task, but he knew from experience that blood mixed with even the slightest ectoplasm suddenly became so indelible, even the Guys in White wouldn't be able to get off.

"Danny!" Jazz banged on the bathroom door. "Some people need to use the bathroom too!" Unfortunately, Jazz and Danny were sharing a bedroom, which, by extension, also included the bathroom.

Danny hastily turned the sink off. "Sorry! I'll be out in a minute, I swear!" He hoped he didn't sound too guilty.

"Is everything okay in there?"

_Crap._ She sounded concerned.

"No, no! Everything's fine, I'm just… flossing! Cleanliness is a virtue, you know!" He tried to sound as convincing as possible.

"Since when do you floss?"

"Since when do you care?" he retorted.

Jazz huffed angrily. "I'm going to shower in Mom and Dad's room."

"Yeah, you do that." Danny held his breath until he heard the door close with a click. Then, he wiped down his phone one last time and attempted to flush the bloodstained towel down the toilet. _Please don't get clogged_, he thought. _Please, please- Oh, no. _

The towel floated back up, and the toilet made a disgusting sound as water started pouring out the sides. Now there was even more evidence to hide.

Danny decided that he'd make a terrible criminal.


End file.
